Like the Stars that Shine
by HedgehogJawn
Summary: That night, at his Grandmum's house, Teddy crawls under the covers with a dusty photo album. He whispers "Lumos!" and turns to the first page... Teddy/Victoire, centered around "Mary's Song: Oh my, my, my" by Taylor Swift. 7 chapters plus epilogue, updates every Friday
1. Oh my, my, my

**Disclaimer: If I was JK Rowling, it wouldn't be called fanfiction.**

**A/N: If you have never heard "Mary's Song: Oh, my, my, my" by Taylor Swift, I highly reccomend looking it up on Youtube before or after reading this :) It will make more sense if you do.**

"WHAT are you DOING?!"

Teddy and Victoire break apart hurriedly and Teddy whirls around. James is standing behind them with his mouth open wide. Whether from shock or joy, it's hard to tell.

"JAMES, YOU—" Teddy yells. He blushes while the tips of his spiky hair turn from electric blue to red. "Go away!" he half-shouts, half-laughs.

James grins devilishly and runs back across the platform, dodging people and large trolleys piled with trunks. Teddy turns back to Victoire, who is straightening her hair in a self-concious way. Teddy often wonders why she does that, it always looks perfect the way it is.

"He's off to tell your aunt and uncle." He says with resignation.

"They would have found out soon anyway." She shrugs and smiles. "See you at Hogsmeade in a few weeks, maybe?"

"I'll be there."

She leans forward and pecks him quickly on the cheek.

"Have a good term!" he calls after her as she hurries onto the train.

Standing alone on the platform, watching the scarlet steam engine pull away, Teddy sighs deeply and runs a hand through his hair. When he had kissed Victoire, it had felt spectacular, like a whole world inventing itself before him. But he misses the old times, before Hogwarts and crushes and romance, when turning his hair purple was all it took to make her smile.

That night, at his Grandmum's house, Teddy curls under the covers with a dusty photo album, whispers "_Lumos!"_ and turns to the first page…


	2. I was seven and you were nine

_A faded photograph with frosting smeared across the corner shows Albus Severus in a highchair, wearing a paper hat, while Ginny tries in vain to make him wave at the camera. Teddy smiles. He himself had been nine at the time; he remembers it well…_

Harry was distracted from a conversation with Andromeda Tonks by a sharp knock at the door. He excused himself, gently removed 3-year-old James from his lap, and stood up. He limped to the door as best he could with Teddy's arms tight around his leg.

"Bill!" He cried upon opening the door. "And Fleur! It's wonderful to see you!"

Ginny, Hermione, Ron and a few others gathered around to exchange warm greetings as Bill stepped inside, followed by Fleur with Dominique cradled in her arms. They talked and laughed, but Teddy saw only the stormy blue eyes peeking sheepishly out from behind the satin folds of his Aunt Fleur's long skirt. The way she looked at him!

"Say hi, Teddy!" cooed Ginny. Teddy let go of Harry and took a step forward. Victoire giggled bashfully and took two steps back.

"Go on, honey, you remember Teddy!" said Bill to Victoire.

She didn't budge. Teddy turned red and retreated behind his godfather again. The grown-ups all sighed.

"True love." said Harry knowingly. Bill laughed, but Ginny and Fleur sighed and shook their heads.

By noon, the Potter's cozy Godric's Hollow house was packed the gills. There was not enough room around the dining room table for the plethora of guests —Weasleys, mostly— so people wandered about, holding green paper plates and socializing. Teddy wound up on the sofa, squeezed between Uncle Charlie and Uncle George on his right, and James on his left.

Teddy was now sticking out his tongue and crossing his eyes to watch it turn green while James clapped and squealed. "Blue! Can you make it blue next?" Teddy was in the midst of doing so when he noticed his would-be brother was not his only audience. A pair of sheepish, sky blue eyes were peering around the end table at him. Victoire watched as if mesmerized.

Teddy's tongue faded back to normal. "Hi!" he called. She didn't respond. She didn't even blink. They were both blushing now. Teddy got an idea.

"Watch this!" He screwed up his face in concentration and turned his hair from blue to orange. Victoire smiled. Encouraged, Teddy tried again, this time his nose turned yellow and grew a few centimeters, but it stopped there. Teddy tried until he was sweating, but the nose wouldn't budge.

"I was trying to turn it into a bird beak." he explained. "I guess I need to work on it."

"I thought it was pretty cool anyway." She whispered.

That nervous, quiet praise made Teddy glow inside.

Late that night, when Albus's first birthday candle had been blown out with some help from Harry, the glob of frosting James had thrown was washed out of Rosie's hair, and the birthday boy was falling asleep in his mother's arms, Victoire and Teddy sat together on the porch swing, gazing at the stars. Teddy turned to say something to her, and saw those eyes glued to him again. Whatever he had been going to say was caught in his throat and forgotten.


	3. Back when our world was one block wide

_Teddy turns to a picture of a twelve- year-old with silvery-blonde hair on a tire swing, sticking her tongue out at the camera as she swung in and out of the frame. He can't supress a giggle. He can still imagine that freckled little face torn between laughter and annoyance as she shouted:_

"Give it back, Teddy!"

Victoire pouted and stamped her foot, snatching fruitlessly at the hair ribbon Teddy levitated just out of her reach.

I'll tell on you!" she whined. "You're not even supposed to use magic til you get to school!"

"'s okay, I'm too little to control it still. Ministry won't care." He said smugly, even though he'd been slowly learning to manipulate his magic since he was ten.

"No, but I'll tell your _Gran_ on you!" A more serious threat than all the Ministry of Magic, for sure.

"I bet you won't!" He made the ribbon to drop down and tie itself neatly in a bow around her ponytail.

Victoire almost smiled, but she caught herself. "And what makes you think that?"

"Cuz I can beat you up."

"Betcha can't!"

"Can too. I'm bigger than you."

But then, Rose, who had inherited her father's talent for showing up at the worst moments, ran across the yard, shouting "Want to play a game?"

"What game?" asked Teddy.

"Truth or Dare."

"What is that?"

"A muggle game Aunt Audrey taught me. When it's your turn you say 'truth' or 'dare' and you have to either answer a question or do a dare."

"Alright. Let's ask James and Al to play, too."

"How about just James? Al chickens out on all the dares."

Teddy laughed. Victoire made a face to show him she hadn't forgotten their fight.

Soon, not only James and Albus, but Dominique, Molly, Freddie and Hugo sat in a circle by the pond in front of Teddy's grandmother's house.

"Can I go first?" asked Hugo with a slight lisp due to a missing front tooth.

"Alright," shrugged Rose.

"Victoire, truth or dare?" said Hugo.

"Truth, please."

"What's the most trouble you've ever been in?"

"That's a pretty lame question, Hugo."

"Tell me!"

Victoire thought. Suddenly her eyes met Teddy's and they burst out laughing.

"What?" asked the others.

"The time Teddy and I stole a whole tray of chocolate-chip cookies and hid under the table with them. We were halfway through the pan when mum spotted us. She was _fuming._"

"What did she say?"

"That's two questions, Hugo, it's my turn now. Teddy, truth or dare?"

"Dare."

Victoire thought. She needed a dare he would have to refuse. She wanted him to chicken out and humiliate himself, as payback for stealing her hairband.

She chose her dare carefully. "Kiss me."

"What?"

"You heard me. On the lips."

Teddy froze for a moment, then shrugged. He stood up and walked toward her.

_Merlin's beard!_ Victoire thought. _He's actually going to do it!_

Teddy came closer and closer, and Victoire waited for the moment when he would give in. But Teddy wasn't stopping. Eventually, Victoire couldn't take it anymore. She turned and ran with a high-pitched squeak.

"Hey, no fair!" Teddy called. "Get back here!" He took a deep breath and charged after her. She ran in the house, rushed past Andromeda and hid under Teddy's bed. Teddy came barreling through the door after her.

"What has gotten into Victoire?" Andromeda asked. A muffled grunt from under the bed answered her.

"I don't know, Gran." Said Teddy innocently. He peeked under the bed and whispered, "Truce?"

Victoire nodded.


	4. Wasn't that little girl you used to see

_ The next pages are filled with photos of James playing Quidditch and Rosie doing handstands, Ron's 30__th__ birthday cake and a newspaper clipping announcing the new Hogwarts Herbology professor — none other than his Uncle Neville, of course! One page is entirely taken up by a huge photo and a slightly crumpled letter. In graceful, neat handwriting, Victoire had written:_

Bonjour, Teddy!

I miss you already! Aunt Gabrielle's wedding was yesterday, and it was so beautiful. I met her new husband for the first time Monday, but I only understand parts of what he says because he doesn't speak English, and as you know, my French is not spectacular. His name is Adrien, and he's my uncle now. I've enclosed a photo so you can see. I'm almost as tall as him, can you believe it? Grandad swears I've grown six inches since we last saw each other.

I won't tell you all about the wedding, because that's what Freddie would call "girly stuff" and you'd probably get bored, but we're having a wonderful time. Would be even better if you were here.

Write me lots and step on James's foot for me, okay? He snuck another dungbomb into my suitcase as we were leaving. Try not to miss me too much.

Love, Victoire

_Teddy lingers for a moment over the words "Love, Victoire", tasting them, before he turns his attention to the photograph. A handsome man with dark hair stands arm and arm with Gabrielle, who looks much like her sister, Fleur. At least 15 other people stand around them, beaming, a few of whom Teddy recognizes—Fleur, Bill, Dominique, Louis... Teddy's eyes skim over each of these faces until they fall on one in particular —On the far right, smiling brightly, her head almost level with the groom's, is Victoire._

_ It was over a year ago, but Teddy remembers his initial reaction to that photo. Even though he saw Victoire nearly every day, he still tended to think of her as closer to 6 than 16, so the young woman in the photo startled him. Her silvery blonde pigtail braids had been replaced by an elegant updo. Her freckles were faded, if not quite vanished. She was as breathtakingly beautiful as a one-eighth Veela should be—but it wasn't that. Teddy had seen plenty of Veela at various family reunions, but none of them had made him feel this way. And he couldn't seem to shake that feeling._

_ When Victoire finally came home, Teddy stared a little too much and laughed a little too loud. Victoire didn't seem to notice, but Teddy knew, without a doubt, that he and his favorite playmate would never be the same again. But whether that was good or bad, he had yet to discover._


	5. Daddies used to joke about the two of us

_The next page is framed with a festive paper border, sporting sprigs of holly and mistletoe and a jolly little Father Christmas in the corner. Most of the page is taken up by family photographs from Christmas at the Burrow, but in one corner is a handmade card with elegant snowflakes painted on the front. Victoire had made it for him. That had been a holiday to remember, for sure…_

"Come on, James, there's your dad!" Teddy tugged on the sleeve of James's jumper. James quickly finished saying good-bye to his school friends and took off running in the direction Teddy had pointed.

Harry had been scanning the platform for Teddy's telltale blue hair (this was the easiest way to pick him out of the crowd, and a method the Potters employed regularly), and didn't see what was coming until there were small arms wrapped around his middle.

"Daddy!" James yelled, before remembering he was too old to say 'daddy' anymore and covering his mouth.

"Hey, whirlwind, I missed you!" Harry bent down a little so he could return James's hug properly. "What do you think of Hogwarts?"

"I've told you, Dad, I've written you a bazillion letters about it! But ooh, it's great and I can turn a quill into an inkstand now, and we learned how to fly 'cept Teddy already taught me to fly a little so Madam Hooch said I'm really good and I wanna play Quidditch next year! And look at my tie, Dad, I've got a Gryffindor tie just like yours and Mummy's, and Brownie almost didn't wanna come home for Christmas cuz she likes it so much in the owlry!" He gestured to the barn owl sleeping in the cage on his trolley.

"That's great, James!" Harry beamed. "Are Teddy and Vicky with you?"

James looked behind him. "I was just with them…look, there!"

Teddy and Victoire were weaving through the crowd to join them with a chorus of 'Hi, Uncle Harry!'s and hugs all around.

"Is Gran here?" asked Teddy.

"She's already at the Burrow." Harry explained. "In fact, almost everyone is. I came to pick all of you up by side-along apparition."

"I can apparate myself now," said Teddy proudly, flashing one of his smiles that always made Victoire blush. "Why don't I take you, Vicky, and Uncle Harry take James?"

"Sounds great," said Harry. "Ready then? On the count of three…"

CRACK!

In an instant, all four were standing in the Weasley's front garden. The front door burst open.

"THEY'RE HOME!" Hugo Weasley announced for anyone in a ten kilometer radius to hear as he tumbled out the door. Albus dashed past him silently and wrapped his big brother in a fierce hug.

"How was it, James? Was it brilliant? Did you really get a detention from McGonagall? Your letter said—"

"It _was_ brilliant," James laughed, ruffling Albus's hair. "And I'll tell you all about detention, it's not as fun as some of Dad's stories make it seem. But it was worth it, just wait til I tell you how me and Lysander got it in the first place…"

*/*/

Everyone agreed that there was nothing quite like the Burrow during the holidays, when everyone was together again. There was a considerable want of space, it was difficult to manuver without bumping into someone and Arthur had to magically enlarge the table so they all could fit around it, but it was absolutely impossible not to be infected with the Christmas spirit.

At supper that night, James was bubbling over with stories about his first year at Hogwarts. On the other side of the table, Ginny was asking Teddy about his studies, and he was just telling her about N.E.W.T-level Transfiguration he heard James blurt out,

"And Teddy and Vicky have been spending an AWFUL lot of time together—"

"What's that supposed to mean?" said Teddy wildly, abandoning his conversation.

"Oh, nothing, he just eats at the Ravenclaw table more often than the Hufflepuff table, and she's always waiting around in the stands after Quidditch practice…"

"So? She's my best friend!"

Harry noticed Teddy's ears and the tips of his hair were turning pink, and couldn't pass up the chance to poke fun. "Smitten, is he? Imagine our Teddy!"

Bill laughed loudly while Victoire suddenly became very interested in the tablecloth just to avoid everyone's eyes. "Regular love birds, aren't they? Even as toddlers we could scarcely keep them apart!"

Teddy didn't mind the teasing – much of it was well-deserved in any case – but his stomach twisted uncomfortably when he realized, Harry and Bill really didn't believe what they were saying. Oh, it was all in good fun, of course, but they had never really believed that Teddy and Victoire could ever possibly fall in love. And…Teddy wasn't sure why that unsettled him. They _weren't_ in love. But…but what?

Ginny's toes found Harry's under the table and pressed down perhaps a bit harder than was necessary. Harry glanced quickly at her and then at Teddy's disconcerted expression, and sobered up immeadiately. Andromeda and Fleur's eyes met for a moment, and they both sighed. They had seen the little smiles and blushes that passed between Teddy and Victoire, perhaps moreso than the children's fathers.

"Oh, my.." whispered Andromeda under her breath.


End file.
